To be or not to be…identified. Explorations of students’ (dis)identification in a Romanian university
Keywords:
ambivalent identification, organizational identity incongruence, need for identificationAbstract
The paper explores the way in which contextual and dispositional factors impact on students’ development of identification and disidentification. We investigate these relations in one cross-sectional and one longitudinal study. The results indicate that need for identification moderates the impact of contextual variables upon disidentification and the transformation of ambivalent identification into disidentification. Based on these findings, the proposed guidelines for building an effective strategy to foster students’ identification with their university follow two lines. The first one refers to the differential impact of policies on students, depending on their need for identification and initial level of organizational identification. The second targets the manipulation in strategy making of organizational level factors affecting identification, such as the incongruence of the organization’s identity and organizational prestige.
Downloads
References
Albert, S. &Whetten, D.A. (1985). Organizational identity. In L.L. Cummings and M.M. Staw (Eds). Research in organizational behavior, vol. 7, 263-295. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Armstrong-Stassen, (2004). The influence of prior commitment on the reactions of layoff survivors to organizational downsizing. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 9, 1, 46-60.
Ashforth, B. E., & Mael, F. (1989). Social identity theory and the organization. Academy of Management Review,14, 20-39.
Boroș, S. (2009). Identity and image: The soul and face of organizations. In S. Boroș (Ed.) Exploring organizational dynamics, 644-654. London: Sage.
Boroș, S., Curșeu, P.L., &Miclea, M. (2011). Integrative tests of a multidimensional model of organizational identification. Social Psychology, 42, 2.
Curșeu, P.L., Janssen, S., &Raab, J. (2012). Connecting the dots: Social network structure, conflict, and Group Cognitive Complexity. Higher Education. Downloaded from: http://www.springerlink.com/content/l85015726726530u/fulltext.pdf
Doosje, B., Ellemers, N., & Spears, R. (1995). Perceived intragroup variability as a function of group status and identification. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 31, 410-436.
Doosje, B., Spears, R., & Ellemers, N. (2002). Social identity as both cause and effect: The development of group identification in response to anticipated and actual changes in the intergroup status hierarchy. British Journal of Social Psychology, 41, 57-76.
Dutton, J. E., Dukerich, J. M., & Harquail, C. V. (1994). Organizational images and member identification. Administrative Science Quarterly,39, 239-263.
Ellemers, N. Spears, R. & Doosje, B. (2002). Self and social identity. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 161-186.
Ellemers, N., Spears, R., & Doosje, B. (1997). Sticking together or falling apart: in-group identification as a psychological determinant of group commitment versus individual mobility. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 617-626.
Elsbach, K. D., & Bhattacharya, C. B. (2001). Defining who you are by what you’re not: organizational disidentification and the National Rifle Association. Organization Science, 12, 393-413.
Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Glynn, M. A. (1998). Individuals need for organizational identification (nOID): speculations on individual differences in the propensity to identify. In D. A. Whetten, and P. C. Godfrey (Eds.).Identity in organizations: Building theory through conversations: 238-244. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Heider, F. (1958). The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations. New York: Wiley.
Jamelske, E. (2009). Measuring the impact of a university first-year experience program on student GPA and retention. Higher Education: The International Journal of Higher Education and Educational Planning, 57, 3, 373-391.
Johnson, J. & de Vise, D (2010). Students protest cuts to higher-education funds. Washington Post. Downloaded from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/04/AR2010030401307.html .
Kreiner, G. E., &Ashforth, B. E. (2004). Evidence toward an expanded model of organizational identification. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25, 1-27.
Lang, D.W. (2009). Articulation, transfer, and student choice in a binary post-secondary system. Higher Education: The International Journal of Higher Education and Educational Planning, 59, 355-371.
Mael, F., &Ashforth, B. E. (1992). Alumni and their alma mater: a partial test of the reformulated model of organizational identification. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 13, 103-123.
Mills, M., Bettis, P., Miller, J. W., &Nolan, R. (2005). Experiences of Academic Unit Reorganization: Organizational Identity and Identification in Organizational Change. The Review of Higher Education, 28, 4, 597-619.
Pratt, M. G. (1998). To be or not to be? Central questions in organizational identification. In D. A. Whetten, and P. C. Godfrey (Eds.), Identity in organizations: Building theory through conversations: 171-207. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Richardson, H. (2010). Spending Review: Universities 'to face £4.2bn cut'. BBC News. Downloaded from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-11550619 .
Riketta, M.& Van Dick, R. (2005). Foci of attachment in organizations: A meta-analytic comparison of the strength and correlates of workgroup versus organizational identification and commitment. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 67, 490-510.
Shulruf, B., Hattie, J., &Tumen, S. (2008). Individual and school factors affecting students’ participation and success in higher education. Higher Education: The International Journal of Higher Education and Educational Planning, 56, 613-632.
Sung, M., & Yang, S-U. (2009). Student-university relationships and reputation: a study of the links between key factors fostering students’ supportive behavioral intentions towards their university. Higher Education: The International Journal of Higher Education and Educational Planning, 57, 6, 787-811.
Tajfel, H. (1972). La categorisation sociale. In S. Moscovici (Ed.) Introductiona la psychologie sociale, 272-302. Paris: Larousse.
Teodorescu, D., & Andrei, T. (2009). Faculty and peer influences on academic integrity: college cheating in Romania. Higher Education: The International Journal of Higher Education and Educational Planning, 57, 3, 267-282.
van Dick, R., Wagner, U., Stellmacher, J., & Christ, O. (2004). The utility of a broader conceptualization of organizational identification: Which aspects really matter? Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 77, 171-191.
van Knippenberg, D., & van Schie, E. C. M. (2000). Foci and correlates of organizational identification. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 73, 137-147.
van Knippenberg, D., & Sleebos, E. (2006). Organizational identification versus organizational commitment: self definition, social exchange, and job attitudes. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27, 571-584.
Wæraas, A., & Solbakk, M.N. (2009). Defining the essence of a university: lessons from higher education branding. Higher Education: The International Journal of Higher Education and Educational Planning, 57, 449-462.
Worchel, S. and Countant, D. (2001). It takes two to tango: Relating group identity to individual identity within the framework of group development. In Hogg and Tindale (Eds.) Blackwell Handbook of Social Psychology: Group Processes. Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal,it also allows for use of the work for non-commercial purposes and if others remix, transform or build upon the works found in this journal they must distribute the contributions under the same licence as the original.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See: The Effect of Open Access).
